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Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Food Pairing 101: What goes well with Beer, Brussels and (Vegan) Bacon?

I woke up this morning with a pounding headache. I replayed last night in my head to see if I could place the source of my pain. Had I eaten Brazil nuts? Snorted lines of fermented cheeses? Did I do shots of vinegar again? Unfortunately I couldn't remember a thing. I stumbled out to my refrigerator and opened it. There, tucked inside the door, was a bottle of Sharkinator White IPA half gone. I pulled out my Untappd App and, there it was, plain as day. I had checked off that I drank a half bottle of Sharkinator (actually I had used it to baste some cauliflower for a burrito but who is keeping score aside from me?). I sought out some hangover cures online, found one that seemed to work with a vegan diet, and by eleven was ready to tackle the day.

The further my hangover drifted into history, the more I felt guilty about wasting half a bottle of beer. I scoured the refrigerator and found some brussels sprouts and vegan bacon. I decided to baste the brussels in a little beer and veggie broth and then toss them into garlic covered vegan bacon. I sprinkled a little Gomassio on to close things out.

So what did I pair with this brussels and beer experience? How about a track that pleads "please take me out dancing this Saturday night, please get me a little drunk, I won't ask why." It's like SLØTFACE's "Take Me Dancing" was written just for me. In reality the track, according to vocalist Haley Shea, is about being free to be yourself regardless of gender. She went on to explain that some people were skeptical about a group of feminists releasing a song about drinking and dancing. SLØTFACE likes partying and drinking and they want people to know that it is okay to make mistakes (you know, maybe drink half a beer too much or pour a little extra in your cauliflower sort of thing). That's why "Take Me Dancing" was written, recorded and released.